T20 World Cup: Chris Silverwood confident of Sri Lanka reaching Super 12 

Sri Lanka team (Credits: Getty)

Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood has expressed his confidence in the team reaching the Super 12 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup. 

The Asia Cup 2022 champions, Sri Lanka were thrashed by 55 runs in their opening contest of the showpiece event. However, on Tuesday, they produced a terrific comeback to secure a 79-run victory against the United Arab Emirates. 

Pathum Nissanka (74) and Dhananjaya de Silva (33) were proficient with the willow to help SL post 152 on the board. Then, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera took three wickets each to bundle out UAE to a score of 73. 

In the post-match press conference, Silverwood was optimistic about the Islanders continuing their rich form to feature in the main round. However, he feels they should be aware of other teams, who have come out fighting in each appearance. 

"I'm always confident. I'm the eternal optimist. I'm confident in the boys' ability. But at the same time, we have to make sure we turn up, we put in a performance like we did tonight, because as we've seen these teams here are dangerous," said Silverwood. 

"We've got to make sure we give them the respect they deserve and come out fighting."

Sri Lanka will face Netherlands in their last league match of the preliminary round on Thursday. It will be a must-win game for them to stake a claim for a place in Super 12. 

But unfortunately on Tuesday night, Sri Lanka sustained a injury blow in form of Chameera, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to calf injury. 

In addition, Danushka Gunathilaka and pace bowler Pramod Madushan have their hamstring problems. It will be interesting to see if Sri Lanka can defy all odds to go deep in the tournament. 

Read more: Dushmantha Chameera might be ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to injury: Reports